my lord, leaving at 2.20. Sleeping-car Ostend to Cologne. A run up the left bank of the Rhine by daybreak, arriving in Frankfort just before noon."
"That's all right, Ponderby! I need not ask you to have everything ready by two o'clock to-morrow afternoon."
"Thank you, my lord. Everything is ready at this moment."
"Ponderby is mistaken. I'm not ready," said Mackeller querulously.
Lord Stranleigh glanced at Peter with just the slightest touch of astonishment.
"Why, my dear Mac, I've given you five hours extra. I understood you were willing to take the nine o'clock train, and now you don't need to depart until two."
"Five hours are of no use to me; indeed, five days will probably prove inadequate. Half a dozen imperative affairs require my personal attention."
"What are they?" enquired Stranleigh, with mild indifference.
"I have points of disagreement with three men and two companies, any of which may lead to a suit at law unless diplomatically handled. If not settled before I leave, they will worry me all the time I am away."
